Man convicted of killing ex-girlfriend sentenced to more than 22 years in prison

A man convicted of the 2017 Spokane Valley stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his child, was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison Thursday.

David M. Campbell, 40, was convicted of second-degree murder and possession of a controlled substance by a jury in September.

Campbell stabbed Jaime R. Bradshaw to death in the driveway of her home. He was homeless at the time, his public defender, Mark Lorenz, said in court Thursday. Bradshaw and Campbell shared a son with special needs, who is currently in foster care after questions about whose custody the boy should be in.

Campbell is also awaiting trial for allegedly choking an Eastern State Hospital nurse last year while in custody. Campbell was found incompetent to stand trial in March 2018 but was found competent again in July 2019. His physician believes he was faking a mental illness to avoid prosecution, according to court documents.

Bradshaw was 37 when she died, and the mother to five children. Bradshaw’s two oldest children’s stepmother, Trena Shelf, asked Judge Annette S. Plese to give Campbell the highest sentence possible.

So many special moments were stolen from Bradshaw’s children, Shelf said.

“Three will forever be a hole in their hearts that can never be filled,” Shelf said. “This was 100% preventable.”

Court documents say a neighbor told law enforcement Campbell had threatened Bradshaw’s life just weeks before the stabbing.

“He is the definition of a monster,” Shelf said.

Prosecutor Dale Nagy also asked Plese to give Campbell the highest possible sentence .

“We would like to emphasize that we agree with Miss Self,” Nagy said in court.

The attack on Bradshaw was an “unprovoked attack against an unarmed victim,” Nagy said.

While Campbell’s attorney pointed to his limited criminal history as a reason to consider a lower sentencing range of 144 to 244 months, ultimately Plese disagreed.

Campbell was convicted of third-degree assault in 2016 and voluntary manslaughter in 1996 as a teenager living in California.

“This case was pretty brutal, looking at the pictures and stab wounds,” Plese said, noting the victim had 19 stab wounds to her chest.

The stabbing was considered a domestic violence incident. Plese said she did not find any mitigating factors to reduce the sentence, and with the “brutality” of the crime, opted to sentence Campbell to 268 months, including 24 months for a deadly weapons enhancement. Campbell will also serve six months for the possession of controlled substances charge.

Campbell declined to speak to the court during the sentencing.

He is set to go to trial for second-degree assault on the nurse at Eastern State Hospital at the end of November, but COVID-19 regulations could cause the trial to be postponed.

After the sentencing, Shelf said she feels “relieved” and happy she has a good outcome to tell her children.

“It has been a long road,” she added.